The Truth About Change
by XxXxInvisibleGirlxXxX
Summary: Things change, it's an almost certifiable fact. No matter how much you don't want them to, they change, and sometimes it isn't for the better. Basically Max is going back to the beach house where her dad died with her sister and her sister's new husband. Will she run into a certain dark haired stranger that tried to save her dad's life? Probably. No wings, Fax.
1. Chapter 1 Perfect

**I already know I'm a bad person for not updating my other stories. **

**Based on The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, But it's different.**

**I don't own The Truth About Forever or Maximum Ride.**

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MPOV

Dylan was going away this summer; his grandma had gotten progressively sicker throughout the year so he was going up to Virginia to take care of her for the summer.

"Okay, I think that's everything, but let's go over the list one more time." He said while trying to wedge one more pair of boxers into his big suit case.

I went over the list because he asked me to, and because I understood his need to have everything be perfect.

Last year I felt like everything was spiraling out of control, I'd quit swimming, my grades were failing, and my mother had throw herself into work. So when Dylan was assigned to tutor me in chemistry, I was, in short, a mess.

But somehow he made those complicated equations make sense, I knew it couldn't have been that easy but I began thinking that he could clean up the other parts of my life just like those complicated equations.

Halfway into junior year we had started dating and bit by bit, piece by piece we put my life back together.

It seemed that his perfectness was just the thing I needed; I picked my grades up, and started fixing my appearance. To anyone who looked at me I was the epitome of perfection, but now my rock was leaving and I had a whole three months to myself.

When Dylan was satisfied that he had everything he picked up his bags and headed downstairs and out to the car.

"So, Max what are you going to all summer?" asked Mrs. Allen Dylan's mom.

"I don't exactly know, I was thinking of visiting my sister Ella down in Florida. Last I heard from her she was just finishing the renovations on our old beach house down there and she invited me and my mom to come visit."

"Well that sounds fun dear, how is Ella? Her wedding was just beautiful."

"Ella's fine, so is James. Thank you for asking" I said politely just as we pulled up to my house.

I stepped out of the car only to be stopped by Dylan grabbing my arm and kissing me on the cheek. "Bye, Max. I'll text you as soon as I get in."

"Bye, Dylan."

As they drove away I got this feeling that something would happen this summer, good or bad, I had no way of telling.

**THIS IS A LINE NAMED PAUBLO**

"Mom, you could come with you know." I said to my stoic mother as we said our goodbyes outside the front door the next morning. I had called Ella the night before to tell her that I was coming down for the summer, she was ecstatic.

"I know honey, but there's so much work that goes into opening another clinic and I need to be here for the process." She said, and then went to hug me. "But, I promise I'll be down come the end of august when we're finishing up here." She mumbled into my hair.

"Okay mom. Just don't be a stranger, alright? You know you are allowed to call right?"

She laughed a little after she had let me go. "You had better get going Max, before the morning rush starts." I started toward my car with my bags in tow. "I love you!" I heard her call after me when I pulled out of the driveway.

"You too!" I hollered back to her.

**TIME SKIP BECAUSE LET'S FACE IT, DO YOU WANT TO HEAR ABOUT HER HOURS OF DRIVING? DIDN'T THINK SO.**

I pulled into Ella's extensive driveway a little after seven. I'm just going to say that she married really well, James is apparently some hot shot Chemist who got his PHD at 21.

When I finally got up to the house I felt inferior in my restored 1970 mustang convertible compared to all of these other expensive cars.

As soon as I stepped out of my car Ella burst through the front doors and talked me in a huge bear hug. I wrapped my arms around Ella's small figure and hugged her back tentatively.

"Oh, I missed you so much Maxie! I have so much to tell you and show you and…" she trailed of as she stepped back and got a good look at me.

"Who are you what have you done with my sister?" she asked seriously while eyeing my Hollister t-shirt, jean skirt, and perfectly straight dirty blond hair parted perfectly down the middle.

I took a step back, "I thought you would have liked it. You always wanted me to be more girly."

"No, I do like it. It's just different that's all. What inspired the change?" she asked curiously.

It's not that I was going to tell her that I changed because of him. That I found it impossible to look like the me I was when he was here when I didn't feel like the same girl.

So I just shrugged and said that I had needed a change.

She seemed to accept that answer she then proceeded to tell me all about her renovations to the old house. She had fixed all of the leeks and replaced the rickety boards. She even added a skylight and gave it a new coat of paint. "Oh Max, it just looks beautiful. You have to see it to believe it. Now we're actually going to be leaving tomorrow, so tonight you'll be staying in the guest room."

I nodded my agreement to this as we made our way through the huge house. After Ella had given me the grand tour we made our way back to the room that was going to be mine for the night, halfway there though I was attacked by a mass of soft golden fur and barking.

Now here I am practically being mauled and Ella just stands there laughs and says, "Oh, yeah. This is Rainey. She's a Pomeranian." Then proceeds to pick the thing up and nuzzle its nose. This makes me not a happy camper.

"When exactly did you get a dog?" I grumble unhappily.

"Right after the wedding Iggy is at work so much and I needed someone to keep me company in this big house."

"Iggy?" I asked confusedly.

She giggled, "That's his nickname."

"Well I'm tired, so I'm going to go to bed."

"Don't you want dinner?" she asked, and when I shook my head she exclaimed "God, what's next? Have you given up swimming?" When a sheepish look came onto my face her expression turned incredulous. "Wow, it's like I don't even know you anymore."

Those words were stuck in my head all night and before I fell asleep I whispered, "That makes two of us sis, that makes two of us." Because it was like I didn't even know myself either.

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**Fly On, Taylor. XD**


	2. Chapter 2 BDD?

**Alright, this chapter is slightly longer.**

**I don't own The Truth About Forever or Maximum Ride.**

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MPOV

The next morning I awoke to the delicious smell of heaven on earth. Aka: Bacon.

It's weird I've been around my sister for less than twenty four hours and I'm already starting to feel more like the old me the me I was BDD, the one who still swam and never ever wore skirts, the one who still had a father.

Yeah, my dad died and I was there. (If you didn't know, BDD stands for Before Dad Died.)

I remember the summer before I started sophomore year, my dad and I had headed down to the beach house for a father-daughter bonding weekend.

We were supposed to go fishing out on the boat early in the morning that day, but I was being lazy and I waved off all of his attempts to get me out of bed. I told him to go get the boat ready. Maybe if I had been there we wouldn't have been too late to save him.

When I walked outside ten minutes later my dad was laying on the ground with his longer than average slightly graying dirty blond hair splayed out around him, his normally tan complexion was taking on a grayish tint, and there was a strange dark haired boy pumping away at his chest.

I could faintly hear the sirens in the distance signaling that someone had already called the ambulance. I wanted to scream or cry or maybe even both, but in my state of shock I couldn't do anything but stand there as a stranger administered CPR to my father on the beach.

When I finally got control of my body back I screamed "No!" and was running across the grainy sand bare foot in only a pair of black cotton short shorts and a white tank top. I kneeled by my father's body and took his clammy pale hand in my own tan one.

The strange person looked up at me flipping his dark hair out of his eyes, I feel his stare but I couldn't look away from my father, I noticed that he had stopped administering CPR so I looked up at him and cried, "Don't stop! This is my dad!" he must have realized this too and then he was looking down again starting CPR. I couldn't help but note that he was extremely good looking and about my age, even in this time of distress.

The paramedics arrived two minutes later and strapped my dad to a gurney. I held his lifeless hand the entire way there. When we got there they took him away and I called my mother and sister who arrived at the hospital an hour later looking frantic and disorganized. When she spotted me sitting there with my head in my hands she didn't hesitate to pull me into a big warm motherly embrace.

I can't help but think now that that had been the last time she had given me a hug. Sure we had hugged after that but it was never initiated by her, and when I did give her a hug it felt forced all elbows and hip bones.

I had hoped the dark haired stranger would show up to the hospital to see if dad was okay, or maybe even stop by to see if I was okay.

I didn't cry at the funeral, even if it would have been okay. My sister, Ella sobbed whole heartedly into Iggy's chest because by this time they had already been going strong for a year. My mother just kinda sat stoically in her seat trying to look strong, but only succeeding in looking more broken than ever. So with them being so broken I knew it was my turn to be the strong one.

When I finally felt façade start to crack, that's when my mother finally broke down and sobbed Ella style, and when she did that I knew it wouldn't have been fair to dump my sorrows on her then. And by the time this happened I had been fine just fine on the outside for so long, everyone just assumed I was over it.

But I'm sure you guys are sick of hearing Max's sob story. Where was I? Oh, right, Bacon.

After checking the clock and confirming that it was indeed seven AM as I had suspected I raced down stairs following the smell of the delectable substance. When I walked into the kitchen with my nose in the air my sister burst out in a fit of girly giggles. "Max doesn't need her eyes to tell her where the food is. She just uses her nose." I gave her a soft glare and walked over to the table where a plate of bacon was sitting in the center.

"Sleep well Maxie?" I heard Iggy ask from behind me. Iggy was the only person who could pull off calling me Maxie. When anyone else said it, it sounded weird or taunting.

"Sure did Iggster." I replied.

"I see Ella told you my little nick name." he said smiling fondly at the mention of his wife.

"So when are we leaving?" I asked curiously.

"We're leaving in an hour, we have to eat then Iggy and I have to finish packing up some little things. And you still have to get ready." Ella said referring to my plaid pajama pants and white tank top not unlike the one I was wearing on that day.

"Cool," I replied, then proceeded to clean off the bacon plate and have four pancakes. As I was exiting the kitchen I threw a "My compliments to the chef," over my shoulder.

I faintly heard a "Thanks Sis!" from Iggy as I made my way through the huge house which caused me to laugh out loud. Honestly, the sound was kind of foreign to me. Had it really been that long since I actually laughed?

After making a few wrong turns I finally got to my temporary quarters and I pulled out a pair of red jean shorts and a white tank top with a big pokeball in the middle of it from my overnight bag. After I put my outfit on I brushed my teeth and my hair making sure I had that perfect part like usual.

When I came downstairs Iggy and Ella were already waiting down by the door for me. Ella was wearing some jean shorts and a glittery purple tube top, while Iggy was wearing some black shorts which made his already pale skin look even paler, and a white t-shirt.

Iggy had blue eyes and blond hair with a reddish tint to it but not so much that it made him a ginger. That coupled with the pale skin made him and Ella look like an odd couple with her tan skin, dark brown hair, and chocolate brown eyes.

Ella and I had never looked alike where she took after our mother Valencia I took after our father Jason. The only traits we shared were our chocolate brown eyes and tan skin, even our builds were different, she was short and curvy at 5'3", and I was tall with an athlete's build at 5'10".

And now I'm getting off track, well I am glad descriptions are out of the way. When I came to a stop in front of Iggy and Ella, Ella's diamond clad left hand was clasped in Iggy's right. I sighed mentally; Dylan has never liked any form of PDA, even holding hands so we never did. At first it was perfect because I shied away from any form of physical contact but now we had been dating for so long and I craved to be close to someone.

And off track again, dang my thoughts are all jumbled today. When we walked outside the sun was shining very brightly so I pulled my Aviator sunglasses out of my purse and slipped them onto my face. **(A/N I freaking love Aviator sunglasses.)**

"So are we making any stops or are we just driving straight there?" I asked Ella.

"Basically straight there, if we need to make a stop we'll call you and if you need to make a stop call us. You still have your key right?" she asked. And my hand immediately went to the key that always hung right below my breast bone on a dainty chain around my neck.

Ella's eyes flickered down and spotted the key through my tight shirt, when her eyes met mine again they shone with understanding. "Alright, well then we don't need to stop for each other. See you there."

"Bye," then we walked to our own respective cars and took off toward the coast.

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**Tell me if you like it! Tell me if you hate it! Just tell me what you think and you might get another chapter pretty quick.**

**Fly On, Taylor. XD**


	3. Chapter 3 Crying and Comfort

**I don't own The Truth About Forever or Maximum Ride.**

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MPOV

When I arrived at the beach house I noticed that there wasn't another car in the driveway meaning that I beat Ella here.

I stepped out of the car and walked toward the front door. Everything looked so familiar, I knew Ella did some renovations so I expected everything to be different; I was prepared for it to be different. What I wasn't prepared for was the familiar blast of sea air blowing my hair out of my face. I wasn't prepared to see my dad's Lily's in full bloom in the front yard.

And I most certainly didn't expect it to be so hard to put the key in lock and turn. I stood there for like five minutes clutching the key around my neck with my hand on the doorknob. When I finally built up the courage I needed I slipped the key from around my neck and turned.

When I walked into the house everything was familiar. My dad's old couch, his grill, and the giant fish he was so proud of he got it stuffed and hung it on the wall. It was almost too much, I needed air. So I rushed out of the back sliding doors, but it was even worse back here. The fishing boat was docked just bobbing on the sparkling water reminding me of that day.

I hadn't been able to set foot in the ocean since he died. He had always loved the ocean, said it was his third daughter. Whenever I got close to going in I found myself backing away until the water couldn't reach me, it was like his essence was there in that water and I wasn't ready to face him yet.

I knew I wouldn't be able to do it, but I found myself slipping off my flip-flops and walking towards the water anyways. I could see a wave cresting then making its way up the shore toward my bare feet, and just like every other time I found my body backing away to where the water couldn't reach me.

When I looked toward the dock, It was like I was reliving that day all over again and it was just too much. So I sat down where the water couldn't get me, pulled my legs up to my chest, put my head on my legs, and cried.

I cried because my dad was dead, I cried because I couldn't cry before, but mostly I cried just to cry. Because it felt good to let it all out.

FPOV

I woke up Saturday morning feeling refreshed. That basically meant that I didn't have any nightmares.

It's freaky having someone you know die. It's even worse when you were there, and it's even worse when you could have helped, could have helped spare his kids the pain of losing a parent. A pain I knew all too well.

But let's move on from the depressing part of the show. I immediately felt happier when it dawned on me that Iggy was coming back today.

Iggy, was basically my role model growing up, if I was getting bullied he took care of it. Like the big brother I never had.

When I was sixteen I got into some bad stuff, got arrested and sent to reform school, I had to go there for a year and I was very disappointed to hear that Iggy was getting married and I wouldn't be able to attend.

Of course Iggy took it upon himself to tell me all about this infamous Ella through phone calls and letters. So when he called in late May a few months after I had gotten out of reform school to tell me that his wife had a beach house down here and they were coming to stay for the summer. He also happened to hint that his wife had a sister my age who in his words was "Smoking hot for a teen."

I also noticed that our next door neighbors the Martinez's were doing some renovations on their beach house. You could hardly even call them neighbors though because they hadn't been to Colby in about two years it's not like I blamed them though, what with what happened with Mr. Martinez.

_Flashback:_

_I awoke with a start and immediately noticed that it was still slightly dark outside but the sun was beginning to rise._

_I knew that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep so I went downstairs to make a cup of coffee then go outside to watch the sun rise._

_When I stepped out onto our back porch, I noticed Mr. Martinez was outside already, it looked like he was getting ready to go fishing. I waved to him and he waved back._

_I had just turned back and took a sip of my coffee when I heard a grunt of pain and turned to see Mr. Martinez clutch his chest and fall to the ground. I shot up immediately, put my coffee down and ran over to where he fell._

_I was frozen for a second but it wasn't like I didn't know what to do. I was a lifeguard. I knelt next to him and took his pulse, it was faint but there. Then I took action I pulled out my cell phone, dialed 911, explained the situation then gave them the address._

_When I hung up, I straddled his body and started to give him CPR because I could tell that his heart needed help._

_After a few minutes I started to hear the sirens in the distance, and I knew that they were almost here. I couldn't help but wonder if Mr. Martinez was here alone or if he had family with him because I did know he had two daughters and a wife though I had never met any of them._

_As soon as I had wondered that I heard a scream of "No!" then the patter of bare feet on sand, and finally someone knelt beside him and took his pale hand in their own tan feminine one._

_I looked up to brush my hair out of eyes, but I was captivated by the sight before me. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She had long dirty blond hair that was falling in her heart shaped face. She looked up at me and I took in her pert little nose, plump pink lips, and gorgeous chocolate brown eyes. "Don't stop!" She cried, "This is my dad!"_

_This snapped me back into reality and I started pumping away at his chest again. When the paramedics showed up and whisked Mr. Martinez into the ambulance I looked for the girl and I had just caught sight of her as she climbed into the ambulance which then drove away._

_I later learned that Mr. Martinez had passed away; the walls of his heart were weak and couldn't stand the strain._

_Flashback end:_

Anyway, so I was surprised to see that they were redoing the old house.

When I heard a car drive by and stop I thought it was Iggy so I went to the window and checked, but it wasn't Iggy. There was a car sitting in the Martinez's driveway.

After a minute or so a girl emerged from the car and I immediately knew her to be the girl from before. She looked around as if taking everything in. then went up the door.

She stood there for like five minutes clutching something that was hanging around her neck. She took a deep breath, unclasped the thing from around her neck which I saw to be a key, unlocked the door, and stepped inside.

I tried to ignore the butterflies I got in my stomach from seeing her and went downstairs to get some coffee. After I had gotten my coffee, said hello to my aunt who was in the kitchen reading the newspaper, and ruffled my little brother Gazzy's hair as I passed him in the living room. I went outside to enjoy the sun and heat.

I instinctively, looked toward the Martinez house like I did every morning now. But something was different this morning. The girl was out there and my stomach flipped a little at the sight of her; she slipped off her flip flops tentatively and then walked toward the water. When a nice wave crested and the water spread up the shore toward her feet she stepped backwards out of reach as if she was scared to let the water touch her.

She looked toward the dock, backed a good distance away from the water, sat down, pulled her knees to her chest and put her head in her legs.

I could see her body shaking and it was obvious that she was crying. I wanted to go and comfort her but I knew that this was a personal moment.

I shook my head, no, she needed someone.

I got up, put my coffee down and headed toward her. "Hey, are you okay?" I sat down next to her.

"I'm fine." She mumbled into her legs. I could tell that this was one of her auto Pilate answers because it was mine too.

I nudged her knee with my own and said, "Now the real answer."

She lifted her head up and glared at me but the effect was ruined because of her tear streaked cheeks and puffy red eyes. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Fang. You?"

"Max."

"Now the real answer."

"My name is Max, what are you talking about?" she asked confused.

"I don't doubt that you name is Max but I do want the real answer to my first question." What is happening to me? I never talk this much.

"Oh," she blew out a frustrated breath, "I'm sure you don't really care, but my dad, he died here."

"I know." Now she looked really confused.

"You do?"

I nodded. "You don't remember me, do you?" she shook her head. "I was there."

Her eyes widened considerably with realization. "You're him?" she whispered so low I figured I wasn't supposed to hear her.

"So Max, what brings you back to Colby?" I asked because I honestly wanted to know.

"I'm staying with my sister and her husband here for the summer." And I swear I heard her mutter, "Why the hell am I talking to this person he could be a crazy stalker killer for all I know." Under her breath.

I chuckled low, and she whipped around to glare at me, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," I heard something crash inside my house and sighed. "I've got to go, see you around?" I asked as I started walking backwards toward my house.

"Sure, why not?" she noticed where I was walking and called out, "Wait, you live there?" I nodded, and she laughed, "I guess I will be seeing you around then."

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**Fly On, Taylor. XD**


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